Chapter Six

"There's something here we aren't seeing." Sasuke muttered as he and his family sat in the room Lau had provided for them.

Their client wasn't a particularly dependable man, but they stayed with him to blend in until they could find Itachi. Still, Sasuke could tell that something was off with him, and he knew that his family could as well.

It was as if they were trapped in the middle of a game of chess, yet were still missing most of the pieces , unaware of where their opponent was moving until their own pawns were taken.

It was infuriating.

His mother hummed softly. "Perhaps it has something to do with the child."

He frowned, as did the others.

"Child?"

"The earl from the curry competition. Lau seemed eerily focused on him and he noticed us even before his butler."

He frowned. "The boy with the eye patch? Why?"

"He confronted the prince during the tournament and immediately afterwards, he pretended to be defenseless when the girl began her attack. He noticed I was following him, but other than a slight twitch in my direction, he made no indication that he did."

Shisui pursed his lips. "Are you- you think he's Itachi's current incarnation?"

Mikoto nodded. "It would make sense wouldn't it?"

He reluctantly nodded, having noticed the way the child had kept his single visible eye on his servants the entire battle, even when it seemed aloof and uncaring, he recognized it as the look the younger had given him when he was worried but denied it.

Footsteps sounded, ending their conversation, and they turned as one as Lau entered with Ran Mao on his arm, his favored fox-like grin curling his lips.

"Good, you're already dressed. Let's go."

"Where?"

"Earl Phantomhive has invited us all for dinner. Apparently there is an important meeting tonight and he would like us to be present. So fond of his games, the child."

They shared a look but nodded, following the man from the room silently. AS the trip commenced they couldn't help but wonder how the dinner would go if Earl Phantomhive truly was their missing relative.

If he didn't truly remember them.

They also wondered if the wished that he didn't, after all he had suffered enough.

*/*

"Bocchan, the guests will be arriving soon."

Ciel hummed softly at the butler's words, single blue eye clouded as he stared out the window of his office, his mind far from the announcement he'd been given.

Instead it was trapped in a hell of its own making, pleasant and painful all at the same time.

A hell full of memories he wasn't sure he wanted to remember.

"Itachi-san, what's the real reason?"

Looking up from where he'd been painting his nails, Itachi tilted his head, turning his attention to massive man sitting beside him.

Two years had passed since he'd joined the Akatsuki, one since he'd lost his original partner and been assigned Kisame, and for the first time in years, he felt at home.

Kisame was brash and full of energy, but he gave Itachi his space when he needed, bullying him into accepting his comfort when he thought he needed it. Most importantly, he treated him like a human.

For so long, people had treated him one way or another because of his clan's status and his genius. He was held on a pedestal, always expected to succeed, to be the ruthless killer lurking in the shadows. He was expected to be emotionless, empty. Hell, even the other Akatsuki seemed to treat him different than they treated each other, like they thought he believed he was above "trivial" things like friendship and human contact.

But Kisame-

Kisame was different from anyone, even his family.

Not only did he acknowledge Itachi's emotions, he forced Itachi to acknowledge them, to feel them.

Let him feel broken.

And in turn, he made Kisame see that for all his ferocity and appearance suggested, he wasn't a monster.

It hadn't surprised him that they had fallen into the relationship they were in now.

It also didn't surprise him that it was this acknowledgment that led to Kisame's question. For so long, they'd ignored the truth of the massacre, him waving away Kisame's questions about it with vague, bullshit answers.

The shark man hadn't given up on getting the truth from him and he'd known eventually that he would have to answer him.

Still, he tried to stall a little longer.

"The real reason?"

The elder man scowled, amber eyes flashing.

"You're a pacifist, or at least as close to a pacifist you can be as a shinobi but you told me that you let your bratty brother believe that you killed you clan for power. I know you, Itachi-san. You don't care about power. So, what really happened?"

He stared at him for a moment, then in the softest of whispers, he called upon his sharingan and allowed his memories of that night and days leading to it to play.

Kisame bore it all, his gaze growing colder with each passing second and for the first time in his life, Itachi knew heartbreak.

There was a hatred building in Kisame's eyes the more the memories played out and it felt as if his world were shattering beneath his feet. His impending death, and Kisame, were the only things holding him together. If he lost Kisame, well even he knew that looking toward your own death wasn't the best reason to continue living.

He looked away, breaking the connection between them...and waited.

"Never again." His partner growled, pulling him into a firm embrace and he melted.

"No one will ever use you like that again, Itachi-san. You deserve so much better than that."

His eyes burned with tears he refused to allow fall. "Thank you."

A chaste kiss pressed against his lips in reply and he closed his eyes, wondering if Kisame even knew what he was thanking him for.

Probably.

A soft chuckle left him at the memory, soft and sad, his eyes burning just as they had that day.

For so long it had been him and Kisame against the world and now, now he was stuck in a war with no one at his back but a demon he could barely bring himself to trust, and a drug dealer that would slit his throat the moment he got a better offer.

How ironic that the world that knew nothing of his crimes was the one where he was completely alone.

"Bocchan?"

His eyes snapped back to Sebastian, the flashing of his sharingan the only thing giving away his surprise.

"Sebastian, how long until Lau arrives?"

"An hour."

A slow, dangerous smile crawled across the child earl's lips. "Lau will no doubt bring his...company. Be sure to set a place for them at the table."

Sebastian smirked and bowed. "Yes, bocchan." The man turned to leave the room lips turning downward slightly.

What had put such a desolate smile on his master's face?

And why were his very human master's eyes flashing demon red?

*/*

Earl Phantomhive was his son, Fugaku was sure of it.

For all that he'd been a horrible father, he'd recognize his eldest son anywhere, even while gazing into a bright blue eye that should've been deep onyx. Tear troughs, not as deep as they'd been in his past life but still visible marred his too young face, pale skin the same ivory it had been the day he slit their throats.

He shouldn't have been able to see them, hidden in the shadows as they were, but his eyes had found them immediately as he greeted Lau and Ran Mao, arctic gaze growing colder by the second.

This was definitely Itachi.

Lau continued to ramble, mask of idiocy in full affect until suddenly the child cut him off.

"Lau."

"Yes?"

"Twice you have made the mistake of treating me as a child rather than a threat. Twice you have brought assassins to hide in your shadow, in case the opportunity arises." His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head. "Make it a third time and you will not live to regret it."

The opium dealer stiffened, mask of pleasantry falling as he opened his eyes to stare at the boy.

"It that a threat?"

Ciel hummed and turned. "I don't make threats. Do be polite and invite your guests inside."

TBC...